Vaccine Sceptic Given Key Role at US Health Agency
A senior Louisiana health official who previously described Covid-19 vaccines as "dangerous" has been appointed to a top position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was revealed this week. Ralph Abraham, who served as Louisiana's surgeon general since 2024, is now listed as the federal agency's principal deputy director in internal databases, effective immediately.
Controversial Track Record on Vaccination
During his tenure in Louisiana, Abraham drew significant criticism for directing state health agencies to stop promoting mass vaccination as a public health strategy. He repeatedly criticised what he called "blanket government mandates" for immunisations, arguing that medical decisions should be returned to the doctor-patient relationship.
Earlier this year, Abraham wrote that "missteps" during the Covid-19 pandemic had caused a loss of trust in government. "Government should admit the limitations of its role in people's lives and pull back its tentacles from the practice of medicine," he stated in his writings.
RFK Jr's Reshaping of Health Leadership
Abraham's appointment comes as Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr continues to reconstitute leadership at US federal health agencies in ways that prioritise vaccine scepticism. Kennedy has previously cut funding to vaccine research programmes and removed pro-vaccine members from the CDC's federal vaccine advisory board.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not formally announced Abraham's appointment, but an HHS spokesperson confirmed the move to the Washington Post. The CDC currently has no permanent director following the ousting of Susan Monarez over the summer, with HHS deputy secretary Jim O'Neill serving as acting director.
Abraham's position on vaccines previously brought him into conflict with Louisiana US senator Bill Cassidy, a pro-vaccination physician, when Abraham cancelled the state's mass vaccination programme. This decision came as Louisiana faces its worst whooping cough outbreak in three decades.
Despite their previous disagreements, Cassidy later voted to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary, who has now appointed Abraham to the influential CDC position.
When asked by CNN last weekend if Kennedy's vaccine positions could harm Americans, Senator Cassidy responded that "anything that undermines the understanding, the correct understanding, the absolute scientifically based understanding that vaccines are safe and that, if you don't take them, you're putting your child or yourself in greater danger, anything that undermines that message is a problem."
